College Essay Dos & Donts

College Essay Dos & Don’ts And, as I write these things down, I notice a theme of youth/old age emerging. Games have changed for me as I’ve gotten older. When seniors began to ask me for advice and teachers recruited me to teach underclassmen, I discovered not only that I had been heard, but that others wanted to listen. At heart, I am still reserved , but in finding my voice, I found a strength I could only dream of when I stood in silence so many years ago. Note that I couldn’t come up with something for the last one, “knowledge,” which is fine. Read her essay below, then I’ll share more about how you can find your own thematic thread. I joined no clubs in primary school, instead preferring isolation. It took six years of tongue twisters and complicated mouth contortions in special education classes for me to produce the forty-four sounds of the English language. It’s a chance to add depth to something that is important to you and tell the admissions committee more about your background or goals. Test scores only tell part of your story, and we want to know more than just how well you work. Each of the values creates an island of your personality and a paragraph for your essay. Share all your brainstorming content with them and ask them to mirror back to you what they’re seeing. It can be helpful if they use using reflective language and ask lots of questions. An example of a reflective observation is “I’m hearing that ‘building’ has been pretty important in your life… is that right? ” You’re hunting together for a thematic thread--something that might connect different parts of your life and self. Scanning the school club packet, I searched for my place. But then, I sat in on a debate team practice and was instantly hooked. I am a diehard Duke basketball fan, and I can identify all of the Duke basketball fans at my high school on one hand. I’ve gotten different Myers-Briggs personality types every time I took the test. For better or for worse, I decided to finally make my voice heard. I was born with a speech impediment that weakened my mouth muscles. I tried my best to blend in and give the impression I was silent by choice. I began interacting with my teachers more and leading my peers in clubs. In discussions, I put forward my ideas with every bit as much conviction as my classmates. I was captivated by how confidently the debaters spoke and how easily they commanded attention. I was sick of how confining my quiet nature had become.